Rupert William Anthony Friend (born 9 October 1981) is a British actor. He first gained recognition for his roles in The Libertine (2004) and Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (2005), both of which won him awards for best newcomer. He portrayed George Wickham in Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lieutenant Kurt Kotler in The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008), Albert, Prince Consort in The Young Victoria (2009), psychologist Oliver Baumer in Starred Up (2013), CIA operative Peter Quinn in the political thriller series Homeland (2012–2017), Vasily Stalin in The Death of Stalin (2017), Theo van Gogh in At Eternity's Gate (2018), and Ernest Donovan in the series Strange Angel (2018-2019).

In the early 2020s, Friend began collaborating with director Wes Anderson, starting with a cameo in The French Dispatch (2021), followed by roles in Anderson's upcoming film Asteroid City and Netflix project The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. In 2022, he starred as disgraced British politician James Whitehouse in the series Anatomy of a Scandal and featured in the Disney series Obi-Wan Kenobi as the Grand Inquisitor.

Friend is director, screenwriter and/or producer of two award winning short films: The Continuing and Lamentable Saga of the Suicide Brothers (2008) and Steve (2010). He wrote lyrics for the Kairos 4Tet 2013 album Everything We Hold.

Early life and education
Friend was born in Cambridge. He grew up in Stonesfield, Oxfordshire, and attended The Marlborough School in Woodstock. Friend received his professional acting training at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

Originally, Friend wanted to be an archaeologist and travel around the world after seeing Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in 1989, but scrapped the idea after realizing that the occupation was perhaps not as exciting as Indiana Jones's adventures had led him to believe. Instead, he turned to acting, in which he was inspired by Marlon Brando who played Vito Corleone, and Daniel Day-Lewis, whom he described as his childhood hero.